AquamarineWorldA fleeting glimpse at a madwoman’s universe of mental chaos…

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

—Colossians 3:13 (NIV)

For some time now, I have this image in my head. I seem to be walking on a beautiful country road. To my left is a line of trees lightly swaying in a gentle breeze. To my right is an open field with a carpet of green grass and wildflowers. It reminds of the scene in the first Lord of the Rings movie when Frodo meets Gandalf on the outskirts of Hobbiton.

Up ahead, there is a bend in the road. I know very well that this is a path I’m destined to walk on. But blocking the way is a huge boulder sitting in the middle. I understand somehow that I needed to get past it to move forward. This boulder has a name, it’s called Unforgiveness.

Every day, I pray for God to give me strength to overcome it. Little by little, I chip away at it until it became the size of a wooden crate, small enough for me to jump over. However, I find out quickly that I couldn’t. So I continue with my labor, carving and chiseling away at the rock in front of me. After much work and prayer, it finally shrinks to the size of a soccer ball. Buoyed by my selfish pride and sense of accomplishment, an idea strikes me. I can just roll the rock to the side of the road then I can go on my merry way.

The problem is, it rolls backward, gathering bits of dirt and moss along the way until it grows back into almost the size it was before. Because of all the dirt and slippery moss on it, it’s now harder to break. So not only was my way blocked again, I am now farther away from where I started. Lord, give me strength.

***

Just before I was going to publish this, an incident unfolds with the object of my unforgiveness. It looks like this builder is not going away anytime soon. I tried, I really did. But I’m exhausted—physically, mentally, and spiritually, so help me God.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

—Psalm 91:11 (KJV)

Today at two in the morning, I was sitting up in bed praying in the dark when I heard a thud on the roof. I brushed it off and continued praying. Then I heard noises in the attic. A few minutes later, I felt—rather than saw—a shadow moving outside my window. It entered the bathroom to my right. A chill immediately went up my spine. I kept praying as I could feel it creeping toward me. Suddenly, a glorious warmth spread across my back like a comforting hug. This happened many times before so I know that my guardian angel came to my rescue again. The shadow vanished instantly, chased away by my mighty angel. Feeling relieved, I stretched out on my bed and threw my blanket over me, still praying.

Not long after, I heard my sister whimpering next door. She often said she gets urong, scary nightmares local lore believes are capable of killing people in their sleep. Since I hardly remember having urongs myself, I asked my angel to check on her. He was gone for just five seconds. He didn’t speak to me or anything but I had a distinct feeling that she was okay now. I finally felt at peace as everything settled down. I thanked God and my angel for protecting me. I asked him again to patrol the house and stand guard for further attacks, but everything was quiet now. I finished my nightly prayer and drifted off to sleep.

Three hours later, I was jolted awake by a warm beam of light on my face. I grabbed my cell phone on the nightstand next to my bed. It read 6:35 a.m. I thought it was still too early for me to fully wake up (especially since I slept so late) so I closed my eyes and eventually fell sleep again. All seemed right in the world. That is, until I wake up and face reality again.

A young woman involved in a political scandal falls in love with her bodyguard who has a dark past.

Pros:Cute leading man. Okay, I’ll admit this much.Good soundtrack. A couple of songs stand out.Kick-ass action scenes. That is, apart from the lead pausing to make sure his enemies see him before attacking.

Cons:Damsel in distress. Ugh! I can feel the feminist flag hitting between the eyes, and I’m no feminist!Paper-thin plot. I don’t buy the male lead’s sudden affection toward the female.Over-the-top acting. OMG, those fake laughs!Zero chemistry between the leads. No, I don’t care to elaborate.Lazy editing. Are those long pauses really necessary?Nonexistent character development. So why did the leads fall in love again?Gratuitous slo-mo. Enough to give Michael Bay a run for his money.Confused script. Tries hard to sell innocence and naïveté but falls flat.

Verdict: Will not be watching Healer anytime soon.
Cringe-o-Meter: High. Might not finish this drama.

Goblin (2016)

A general from the Goryeo period is cursed with immortality as a goblin until he finds his bride who happens to be an orphaned high schooler. He ends up living in the same house with her along with a grim reaper who shares a complicated past with him.

Pros:Amazing chemistry between the cast.Talented actors.Great soundtrack.Excellent expositions in flashback sequences.Top-notch costumes and wardrobe.Witty dialogues.Awesome special effects and animation.

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be gloried in the Son.

—John 14:13 (NIV)

Yesterday morning, my sister had a reflex session with Kuya Lucio. As with most sessions, I soon became very sleepy so I went to bed shortly after.

I found myself working at an office. My teammates and I were called to an off-site meeting. Because I had to change to a more appropriate attire than jeans and a blazer, I made a beeline for the CR, which happened to be in the attached building next door. As soon as I walked in, two of my friends and previous teammates emerged together out of the farthest cubicle from the door. They had quite a story to tell.

They said that Joy, one of the two girls, was scratched suddenly while she was sitting on the last toilet. She told the other girl about it. Since they just got off their shift and both were active in their churches, they decided to investigate the paranormal encounter. They came up with the idea to strip off their clothes to see any fresh marks. They went back into the last stall. Not long after, they both saw and felt deep scrapes on their arms. They dressed quickly and got out just as I walked in the door. Not wasting any time, they told me what they just experienced.

Full of righteous condemnation and hubris, I asked, “Why didn’t you rebuke it with ‘in Jesus’ name’?” I didn’t remember their answer.

When they left, I brushed off the entire thing and chose the final stall to get dressed in. As soon as I finished, I felt a force shove me against the left wall of the stall. I then saw a shadowy brown blur beside me. I got out and saw the blur materialize in front of the mirror. The ghostly figure looked angry. My heart started drumming but I turned around and steeled myself to face him. Apart from the hostile stance, he looked quite normal in his dark jeans and tucked-in maroon polo shirt.

I was prepared to rebuke him out loud, but all I managed was “In Jesss…In Jes…Jezzz…”

He laughed at my effort. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get the right words out so I thought it instead. In Jesus’ name, in Jesus’ name. His smile immediately turned sour. He started getting agitated.

Soon I found the strength to say aloud, “In Jesus’ name! In Jesus’ name, I command you to get away from here!” He started panicking and rushed out the door. I followed hastily, now shouting, “In Jesus’ name, get out of here and don’t come back!”

People were alarmed and stared at me. I didn’t care; I kept hollering! He was running now and bumped into a guy in a white shirt and tie before disappearing around the corner.

I asked the guy he bumped into, “Did you see that?”

He replied, “I’m not sure. All I saw was a blur.”

“Well, I saw him clearly. He wore a maroon polo shirt and dark jeans,” I said.

I made my way back to my building where my teammates were waiting for me. I told them my story.

I dreamed last night that I was invited to a former work friend’s lavish home for a day. Things looked promising as she lived in an abandoned amusement park. As we toured around the property, she took me to her room, which was huge and fit for a princess. Though it was sparsely furnished, one could see the intricately carved gilded moldings on the ceiling and walls, remnants from its glory days.

After some brief introductions to her parents and brother, she then whisked me to a room lined with dark wood panels. Right at the center was a Jacuzzi and next to that was what looked like the beginnings of a waterslide. Her slightly heavyset friend appeared out of nowhere and jumped right on the slide, gesturing for both of us to follow suit. My host stripped off her T-shirt, revealing a bikini underneath. This was normal for her as she taught mermaid swimming lessons and dressed like that every day for convenience. She slipped onto the waterslide and disappeared around the bend.

Being unprepared and generally not a good swimmer, I took off my shirt and gingerly lowered myself on the chute. Despite it being wide enough and water flowing freely around me, I found it hard to move forward on the slide. I thought it odd that I had to push myself in order to get moving when I was nowhere near as wide as her friend. My struggle continued all the way until I made my splash on the pool below. As I came up for air, I saw my sister by the pool. I turned around and saw a long queue at the top of the outdoor waterslide. Apparently, we have just taken the shortcut to the pool area using the family’s private access.

As we made our way out of the pool area, I was struck by how vast the property was and how many people it could hold. There were areas in the park that were closed off from the public and looked rather shabby. It seemed that our hosts have invited their entire neighborhood for the party and they ventured out even to the restricted places. Suddenly, I heard loud banging and almost woke me up from my bizarre dream but I managed to doze off.

We found ourselves back to the house and our clothes before heading back to my friend’s bedroom to change. When we opened the door, a camera crew was filming by the bed. I guessed the family invited a celebrity of sorts for the festivities, which I still had no idea what event I was invited for. After we slipped back into our T-shirts, the celebrity invited us to sit on the bed with him.

I heard some more loud noises before I woke up with a start to the carpenters hammering away at the attic above my room. I begrudgingly dragged myself out of bed and made ready to start my day amidst the chaos of the renovation going in our house.

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

I made plans ahead, trying to think of the best way to honor your day. Unfortunately, life had other plans. I picked the worst time to get sick. I was stuck in my room, snotty-nosed and hacking all over the place, while rain poured in torrents all weekend long.

“I miss you!” was the last text you sent using someone else’s phone, which my sister glared at me for and demanded to know why a friend of hers (his roommate and neighbor back home) would be texting me like that. It took the better part of an hour for her to calm down as I explained the text actually came from my best friend who was borrowing his neighbor’s cell phone. If I knew back then what fate had in store for you abroad, I would have held on tighter and never let you go as you whisked me away for our last dance together.

Words cannot begin to describe how big a hole you left in our hearts. I miss you, my friend. Until we meet again!

Time and time again, she notices someone looking at her from across the way. She pretends to ignore them. It never bothered her that guys are checking her out because she got used to not paying attention to it. She was in a relationship for quite a long time that she didn’t have any reason to acknowledge their presence. But now that it was over, she was starting to take notice of the lingering stares more and more.

She got so good at pretending not to notice those covert glances that it was almost second nature to her to keep doing it. In time, she will have to stop herself from being so rigid. One day, she will have to let go. One day, she will have to learn to take it in stride.